I’m very happy with this Evolutions set.  We got 1 excellent looking figure of Padmé in an outfit that had been missing from the TPM offerings. We got an outstanding update to an outfit from AOTC that we’d seen attempted several times.  And we got another all new outfit (a two-for, actually!) from ROTS that is kind of amazing in a “I can’t believe we used to get figures like this” way.

Queen Amidala is a really great looking figure.  It’s got an excellent sculpt all around, although it’s lacking in articulation.  While it has decent articulation above the waist, the arms look odd when you move her shoulders due to the low hanging dress sleeves.  Beyond that, this figure is a salt shaker, which seems par for the course with “Padmé in gown” figures.  We at Banthaskull often drone on endlessly about super articulation, but there is a time and a place for limits, and this one is an acceptable example where the aesthetic would be harmed by more joints.  The face looks reasonably accurate, but that’s easier to accomplish here because of her ornate make-up disguise.  The headdress and gown have nice sculpting details all around.  The paint is very good, with terrific detailing.  She comes without any accessories which is a bummer, but there’s not many options here.

Senator of Naboo is a nice upgrade to older figures.  Hasbro had been trying to get this right since 2002, and had come up short.  This one has a very good sculpt with excellent articulation that allows for some good action poses.  The face is outstanding here, although in an egregious oversight, she’s missing her mole!  Nevertheless, it’s as close to Natalie Portman as Hasbro has come in an 3.75” action figure.  Paint applications are simple, but effective.  She comes with a soft goods shawl, and a new accessory: a head scarf.  It looks good, and fits her head well and her eyes peek right through the slot - which can also be used to mail envelopes.  She has her standard pistol, which fits nicely in the holster, although a bit too loosely in her hand.  As of 2020, this is still the definitive “Pre-Nexu Slash” Padmé.  This outfit works for several moments on screen, beginning with Shmi’s funeral, where Padmé can be seen holding the head scarf in her hand.  (By the way, setting up the funeral shot for the gallery above really made me angry that we don’t have a Cliegg Lars figure.). She then drops the shawl while on board her yacht, convincing Anakin to be a rebel.  She then dons the shawl when she enters the droid factory.  And finally, she is shawl-less when she is escorted into the arena, and wears it this way until her aforementioned encounter with the Nexu.  After that, your best bet is to go with The Black Series #1 figure.

Nightgown Padme is also a nice looking figure.  The body sculpt is simple, with articulation only above the waist.  This one is even more of a salt shaker than the Queen figure, because it has no waist articulation. The feet on my sample were slightly warped, making it tough to stand her sometimes.  Sadly, the face sculpt is not a great effort, and looks much less accurate than the other two in the set.  She comes with a simple white gown, which seems to be meant for you to be able to display the Polis Massa maternity ward scene where she gives birth to the twins and then decides that she had a good run and stops living.  That aside, it’s a fascinating accessory choice, and makes the figure a two-fer.  Both options had to really be way down on the list of options that made great toys, but I’m still happy to have this.  Padmé spent way too much time crying in ROTS after being so strong in the previous films, but you can capture these wonderful moments with either display option of this figure.

Overall, I like the choices.  It’s a nice spread across the movies.  I’m happy to have this set in my collection.  Salt shakers aside, the rest of the articulation is excellent, as are the sculpts and paint jobs.  It’s unlikely Hasbro will revisit any of these figures (Arena Padmé probably is the one that has some shot in the future), so this set is a testament to the glory days of the line.